By Teresa Rivas

This morning, Schwab said it earned $256 million versus a year-earlier profit of $275 million. On a per-share basis, a metric that includes preferred dividend payments, earnings were down to 18 cents from 20 cents, although the year-earlier period included a benefit of $70 million related to the resolution of a vendor dispute.

Revenue increased 4.2% to $1.34 billion.

The Street was looking for earnings per share a penny higher, or 19 cents, on $1.32 billion in revenue.

Schwab’s total expenses excluding interest rose 8.7% to $925 million.

Revenue in the firm’s trading business rose 7.3% to $235 million, helped by the recent stock market rally.

Its asset management fees rose 15% to $572 million, but it also recorded a 7.5% rise in money market fund fee waivers (used in a low-interest rate climate to prevent clients’ yields from turning negative) to $157 million.

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Earnings reports, corporate strategies and analyst insights are all part of what moves stocks, and they’re all covered by the Stocks to Watch blog. We also look at macro issues, investor sentiments and hidden trends that are affecting the market. Stocks to Watch gives you the full picture of the U.S. stock markets, all day long.

The blog is written by Ben Levisohn, a former stock trader who has covered financial markets for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and BusinessWeek.